Third Palestinian Infant Dies of Starvation in Gaza in a Single Day Amid Israeli Blockade
GAZA, July 20 (VOM-Voice of Malaysia): A third Palestinian child has died within 24 hours in the besieged Gaza Strip due to starvation, as Israel’s ongoing blockade continues to choke humanitarian access and intensify what global rights groups are calling a “genocidal war” on the territory.
The latest victim, an infant named Yahya al-Najjar, succumbed to extreme malnutrition on Saturday at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. His emaciated body, captured in harrowing images circulated by journalists and activists, became a tragic symbol of Gaza’s deepening hunger crisis.
“This is Baby Yahya Al-Najjar, and Israel’s starvation has just killed him in Khan Younis,” wrote Gaza-based journalist Ahmed al-Najjar on social media. “We scream, our children cry to the world—but no answer.”
Another Gaza journalist, Motasem A. Dalloul, issued a stark warning: “2.3 million are on the way if no food [is] allowed to enter into the blockaded war-torn Gaza Strip!”
Activists lamented that Yahya’s life could have been saved with something as simple as a few ounces of milk. “He died waiting. He died hungry,” one pro-Palestinian blogger posted, highlighting the preventable nature of the tragedy.
Local sources also noted that the hospital lacked the proper equipment and nutritional resources to save the baby—a consequence of Israel’s siege that has crippled Gaza’s healthcare system.
Yahya’s death was one of 116 Palestinian fatalities reported on Saturday alone across Gaza, according to health officials. Of these, 38 people were killed near so-called food distribution centers in Rafah, which have become increasingly dangerous sites for desperate civilians.
These centers, supported by Israeli and U.S. aid initiatives, have been described as “death traps” by UN officials, as Israeli strikes frequently target areas where starving Palestinians gather for food.
The United Nations has warned that thousands of people in Gaza are “teetering on the edge of catastrophic starvation,” as the Israeli blockade—tightened since the war began in October 2023—has reduced food supplies to nearly zero.
The use of starvation in Gaza has drawn widespread international condemnation. Human rights organizations and legal experts accuse the Israeli government of deliberately employing starvation as a weapon of war, in violation of international humanitarian law.
Since the conflict escalated in October 2023, more than 58,700 Palestinians—the majority of them women and children—have been killed, with thousands more wounded, displaced, or trapped in worsening famine-like conditions.
Despite global outcry, Israel has maintained its blockade, restricting entry of food, medicine, and fuel—all while continuing military operations in civilian areas.
As humanitarian agencies struggle to gain access and deliver aid, the death of Yahya al-Najjar underscores a growing fear: that Gaza’s youngest and most vulnerable are paying the ultimate price, as the world watches in silence.
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